Sequester may shut down Punta Gorda airport tower

Published: Friday, March 1, 2013 at 1:05 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, March 1, 2013 at 1:05 p.m.

Punta Gorda Airport, whose $4 million air traffic control tower has only been operational for a little over a year, will have to shut it down in April as part of the far-reaching federal budget cuts that began taking effect Friday.

Operations at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, where the Federal Aviation Administration runs the tower directly, are not expected to be impacted anytime soon, said chief executive Frederick “Rick” Piccolo.

His biggest concern is that planned furloughs by the Transportation Safety Administration at larger airports could have a ripple effect here.

Under already announced plans, the FAA intends to stop funding flight control staffing at Punta Gorda and 99 other smaller airport tower operations. The tower at Punta Gorda is manned by a private company, Robinson Aviation Inc., with funding from the FAA.

At stake is the passenger air service provided by carrier Allegiant Air to 11 cities, which the company describes in schedules as “Fort Myers/Punta Gorda.”

The airport's concerns are part of a broader picture involving Florida's $70 billion a year tourism industry, which also is slated to be dramatically affected by the budget cuts, called sequestration.

Under the budget cuts that began Friday, as much as 10 percent of the 40,000 people involved in flight control operations nationwide would be placed on unpaid furloughs on given days. The furloughs are likely to start in April.

An Allegiant spokeswoman told the Herald-Tribune that its operational crews will be examining the situation at each airport served by the airline before deciding on whether to cut any flights.

Assuming Punta Gorda Airport officials do get final notification from the FAA, as expected within the next two weeks, the earliest the tower would shut down is April 1, said James Parrish, assistant director at the airport.

“Today it is operating,” Parrish said. “We have not heard anything different. We are still on the list, as of yesterday.”

The total budget for contracted tower operations like those at Punta Gorda is $145 million a year.

“It doesn't make a lot of sense to me to cut $600,000 out of the FAA budget,” said Parrish. “We just built the tower. That was a combination of about $4 million, state funds and funds from revenues running the airport.”

<p>Punta Gorda Airport, whose $4 million air traffic control tower has only been operational for a little over a year, will have to shut it down in April as part of the far-reaching federal budget cuts that began taking effect Friday. </p><p>Operations at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, where the Federal Aviation Administration runs the tower directly, are not expected to be impacted anytime soon, said chief executive Frederick “Rick” Piccolo.</p><p>His biggest concern is that planned furloughs by the Transportation Safety Administration at larger airports could have a ripple effect here.</p><p>Under already announced plans, the FAA intends to stop funding flight control staffing at Punta Gorda and 99 other smaller airport tower operations. The tower at Punta Gorda is manned by a private company, Robinson Aviation Inc., with funding from the FAA. </p><p>At stake is the passenger air service provided by carrier Allegiant Air to 11 cities, which the company describes in schedules as “Fort Myers/Punta Gorda.”</p><p>The airport's concerns are part of a broader picture involving Florida's $70 billion a year tourism industry, which also is slated to be dramatically affected by the budget cuts, called sequestration.</p><p>Under the budget cuts that began Friday, as much as 10 percent of the 40,000 people involved in flight control operations nationwide would be placed on unpaid furloughs on given days. The furloughs are likely to start in April.</p><p>An Allegiant spokeswoman told the Herald-Tribune that its operational crews will be examining the situation at each airport served by the airline before deciding on whether to cut any flights.</p><p>Assuming Punta Gorda Airport officials do get final notification from the FAA, as expected within the next two weeks, the earliest the tower would shut down is April 1, said James Parrish, assistant director at the airport.</p><p>“Today it is operating,” Parrish said. “We have not heard anything different. We are still on the list, as of yesterday.”</p><p>The total budget for contracted tower operations like those at Punta Gorda is $145 million a year.</p><p>“It doesn't make a lot of sense to me to cut $600,000 out of the FAA budget,” said Parrish. “We just built the tower. That was a combination of about $4 million, state funds and funds from revenues running the airport.”</p>